Walk Me Down the Middle
by Eyes like Dawn
Summary: Song-fic. Belle is determined to spend time with her love no matter what. Utterly fluffy Rum/Belle goodness. One-shot. Enjoy.


_A/N: I couldn't help myself from writing this. The song is called 'Walk Me Down the Middle' sung by one of my favorite bands, The Band Perry. I obviously don't own the song and neither do I own OUaT. _

**~8~8~**

Belle grips her delicate hand tightly about her Rum's calloused own as her bright azure eyes scan the sights of gaily decorated vendor booths selling sugary treats of confectionary sugar sprinkled funnel cakes, buttery popcorn, fluffy cotton candy, and more sumptuous fair delicacies; all waiting to be devoured by ravenous fair goers who throng and press about them like some lazily flowing river.

The scents of the county fair mingle all around in some delirious aroma of magic and fun as loves walk slowly hand in hand and merrily laughing children race from sight to sight; wide eyed in their young innocence at the once a year treat of rides and all you can eat delights at their eager fingertips.

The vibrantly colorful booths of fair games that line the dirt pathways snake around the grounds, offering couples and children games of skill and chance to win stuffed animals as feats of achievements and prizes of whimsy as memories to be carried through life or tokens of affections for would be courters out with their dates.

In the very back, the carnival music chimes pleasantly along the gentle wind, mingled with the screams of exhilaration as rides whirl and twirl and bump and soar with their amused cargo; who brave the ancient rides with adventurous glee.

Belle can barely believe it as they stroll hand in hand down the packed, litter dotted paths, heedless of the stares and the awed looks that Mr. Gold, as he was previously known, is not only attending the Storybrooke county fair, but gracefully strolling along hand in hand with a woman whom none have seen before or don't remember.

The beauty catches the particular glances of a few notables of the cursed county out and about enjoying the festivities as well; including the curse breaker, Emma Swann with her usual dark disapproving scowl, her shaggy brown haired son who is voraciously scarfing down a red snow cone, Snow White crowded about with seven short boisterous fellows that work all manner of jobs in the town along with her dearest husband James who has his arm wrapped about her shoulder while smiling lovingly at his mate, and then last of all prowling in the dimness of the lights Regina, the cruel woman who had wreaked her life and hidden her in a cell for 30 years.

A substantial part of the beauty wants the vile harpy to see her walking proudly along with her Rum, even though she is still scared of the witch who tortured and imprisoned her. Still, she hungers to flaunt the fact that even the most hated man has a true love, and she knows that stings the vicious sorceress harder than any torment could do her body.

Belle fights the urge to blush and suppress a shiver of icy fear that crawls up her spine at seeing Regina glowering at them and the surprised look of the townsfolk. She tilts her head down and sidles closer to her love where his warmth and presence is all she needs to calm her raging thoughts. He will never let anything like that happen again, she knows and that in turn drapes a bower of protection over her, helping to steel her nerves.

His limping gait is even slower than usual, but there is no malice in his step, and no hint of revenge with every thump of his golden hilt cane on the hard packed dirt. For in this moment he is only Rum, a man happy to be with his Belle.

He looks down at her and smiles tenderly, banishing the press of discomfort and awkwardness Belle feels from the stares and suddenly she doesn't care if they gape and point and sneer at the strange sight. She is here to enjoy the fair with her Rum and nothing will change that.

_I was meant to be by your side_

_And I have waited here a long time_

_For you to turn around and notice me_

_But now you're here, holding hands with me…_

_Walk me down the middle of the county fair_

_Walk me down the middle like you don't care_

_Walk me by the Ferris wheel and make sure that she sees_

_Let the whole world know, you belong to me… _

As the gaudily decorated Ferris wheel grinds and sways to a slow creaking halt at the height of the ride, Belle gasps at the sight of the town in the hazy dusk light. To one side the sprawling acres of deep green forest spreads far as the eye can see with only a vague cut of lonely highway through the deep verdant wood, which meanders out of the town and seems to go on forever to nowhere.

Then, on the other side, the forest melds into town, and town spatters off to give way into the glistening sea that has turned a glossy crimson flecked with brilliant ivory thanks the flaming orbs dropping to its nest in the hazy horizon. The sky is smeared with an array of pinks, reds, and oranges that light the under bellies of happily scudding clouds that aimlessly wander the vibrant firmament like tiny lost lambs without their shepherd.

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" She gasps breathlessly as her azure eyes rove the bucolic scene spread out in the glory of dusk.

A soft chuckle falls from the business man's lips as he takes her chin in his hand and slowly turns her face to his. "Yes." He replies gently. "The day you walked into my shop. Until that moment I thought I had lost you forever. I thought I had lost my entire heart."

How could he still want her, Belle wonders as she searches his glimmering soft brown eyes so full of overflowing love and emotion that envelopes and swaths about her like a warm thick blanket. Not all of Regina's torments had been magical. Under the blue sun dress were bruises and welts and pink fleshy scars the rose from her skin.

She is marred, cracked, broken, and battered in more ways than one. But then in his warm chestnut orbs she sees that doesn't matter to him. The only thing that matters is that she is alive and safe and what part of his heart Regina stole from him when she lied about Belle's death has been restored.

This time Belle cannot suppress a blush that alight her cheeks in a faint pink. In one smooth motion, the beauty presses close against Gold's side and leans her head on his lanky shoulder. The scruff on his cheek and jaw tickle Belle's forehead, but it only makes her smile endearingly to her love. A content sigh eases past her lips as she snuggles nearer and he wraps his arm over her shoulder protectively, and squeezes faintly to show his happiness with her.

_I've heard about your bitter end_

_About how she stole your heart and put it back again_

_Well I may not be the prettiest girl around_

_But I sure am a sight for sore, sore eyes._

If anyone hadn't known from last night, Gold has some strange woman on his arm, they certainly know in the morning when business as usual went on. The town is spilt effectively down the middle where one side struggles valiantly to free themselves from under Regina's heel and the other fights alongside the vicious sorceress. Since Belle had been freed, Gold has stopped all contact with the vile witch but neither is he all on Emma's side as well.

Belle knows he has his own reasons and his secrets for doing what he does, but she can feel him tensing up as they walk through the middle of town where the good is divided by evil. They can cross the line for they are the gray mass of neutral, but still both sides peer at them in awe and suspicion.

Emma Swann glares critically at them from her 'head quarters' at the brown and white police station. One hand rests perilously close to the sliver gun nestled in her holster, but she doesn't touch it or draw the cold steel. There isn't hostility like the narrowed gaze of Regina the night before, but her turquoise eyes pierces them as if trying to unlock some mystery housed under their flesh.

Belle stares back at her slightly in challenge, as her grip tightens on Rum's arm. There is a silent warning message, flickering with a dangerous fire in her eyes as she warns the sheriff to leave them be. Rumpelstiltskin is hers and as much as Emma might not like or trust him, the former bounty hunter will not touch anything that is Belle's. She has had too much taken from her already and Rum will never go back on that list. He is hers and Belle will make everyone know that.

_Walk me down the middle of Main Street_

_Walk me down where the whole town will be_

_I don't need no parade, but make sure that she sees_

_Let the whole world know you belong to me_

"I fear this is going to be a rather messy war." Rum states as they lay under the blue silken sheets of their master bed.

His entire body is pressed against her own, with his wiry arms wrapped around her, protecting her with his warmth that promises never to let her go again. Belle lies on her side, curved into his frame like fitting puzzle pieces. She feels his heart thudding in a sleepy tempo against her back, and his breath whispering over the curve of her ear.

Belle shakes her head, causing her russet curls to tumble in every direction. She won't, she refuses to let him stay and fight alone. "I've only just found you again. There is no way I shall be carted off somewhere safe while you're caught between Regina and Emma."

"You don't know what Regina is capable of." He argues softly, his thick Scottish burr sending tingles down her spine.

"I do, actually. You forget I was her prisoner. She wanted me to reveal your weaknesses and unlock your secrets, but I never told her anything. I will never betray your trust, and I will always stand by your side. I won't leave you again. I will take any pain Regina can conjure and suffer through it walking hand and hand with you." She retorts determinedly, her bravery and absolute love for her Rum flaring through her heart.

_I'd walk through fire for you_

_Walk through barbed wire for you_

_I'd walk for miles, it's true_

_Just to be with you…_

He rewards her courage with a kiss upon the nape of her neck as he pulls her closer. Even though she is turned away from him, Belle can feel his grin on her skin as he presses a series of soft kisses along her bare shoulder. "Well, I suppose there's only one thing for it then, stubborn Belle-of-mine..."

The soft organ music emanating from the choir stand drifts out of the open windows to play upon the summer wind. Multi-hued light wafts through the stained glass windows transforming the golden beams into rays of reds and blues and purples that gleam upon the pews and the people who stand facing the red carpeted isle.

Belle walks slowly in pace with the music, as James walks her down the aisle. Her father refuses to come, but that fact doesn't make her truly sad. Somehow she suspected as much and to be honest she has no regrets to that knowledge. In fact she has nothing but happiness bursting in her heart at the moment.

She looks neither to the left or the right to the people who accepted the invitations to the small wedding, but only to her love standing at the altar in a black tux with gold inlay and embroidery in whimsical patterns around the edges and a silky black shirt beneath. Both hands are clasped in front of him and on his cane while his face is marbled with the widest nervous grin that warms her more than the summer sun ever could.

The ancient words of the pastor are barely heard as Belle looks upon her Rum through her lacey veil of white. He has never been so handsome than in that moment she thinks to herself as he takes the ring from the satin blue pillow Henry holds before them and slips the cold band of gold upon her finger.

As the shining metal hits her knuckle she in turn does the same and gently tapers her hand over his; marking every veins and every callous as she does so, and commits every detail of this man, her man to her pounding heart.

So caught up in drinking in the sight of him standing before her, Belle only registers the most important moment as he lifts her veil and runs his rough hand across her flushed cheek tenderly and dashes the warm tear brooking down her porcelain skin. He leans towards her and she leans upward, and in that moment as their lips press together to seal their matrimony, she claims him fully as her own.

_If you walk me down the middle of my momma's church_

_Walk me down the aisle in your finest shirt_

_Let the whole world know you will walk me down the middle of the county fair_

_Oh walk me down the middle like you don't care_

_Walk me by the Ferris wheel and make sure they all see_

_Let the whole world know, you belong to me. _


End file.
